Improvement in tobacco-presses



UNTTETT STATES PATENT Erica.

GEORGE LINDSAY AND W'M. CAMERON, OF PETERSBURG,VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 95,/17, dated September 1R, 18:59.

.To all whom it may concern,.- Be it known that we, GEORGE LrNDsAYand WILLIAM CAMERON, of Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddie and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Presses, and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective View of so much of the presses as will illustrate the invention, and Fig. 2 represents a vertical section through the truck-frame for carrying the hydraulic press. f Similar letters o f reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts of the apparatus in both gures.

lNew and more powerful and speedy presses have been recently introduced in establishments for pressing tobacco,which are found to answer an admirable purpose; but objection is made to such presses, inasmuch as they throw out of use the present old-fashioned screw and other presses, and render them worthless, though they have been set up at great expense. Our object is, in connection with the more modern and better presses, to render available these oldrfashioned presses,

' and cause them to first exert their power on the tobacco,then give way to a portable hydraulic press,which completes the pressing,and finally to make the screwor other old fashioned press hold and retain the tobacco under the accumulated pressure both of itself and of the hydraulic press or jack, and thus make them useful in connection with the more powerful press. As at present arranged,these old-fashioned screw and other presses stand in rows of from forty to sixty, and we propose to use them as retaining-presses in their present position, but bring to their aid a more powerful press, which acts in connection with the old one.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A may represent one of a tier of old-fashioned presses as now arranged. To render these available we proceed as follows: iirst, to lay down a track or tramway, B, for convenience behind the tier of presses. On this track we run a truck, C, which carries an ad- `justable platform, D,on it, the platform being provided with a track, E, standing at right angles to that B, and upon this platform and track is placed a portable and powerful press, the one represented being a hydraulic jack; but of course other power may be substituted for it. This constitutes,substantially,the whole apparatus, which is simple, cheap, and effective.

The operation is as follows: The box Leontaining the tobacco, or the series of boxes are placed upon the bed F, and the follower G run down by means of the screw H to the extent of itspower as ordinarily worked. Vhen a 'tier of screw or other presses are thus arranged, the truck C is run along on its ways until it brings its jack J to the press it is to act upon. The platform D is now raised or lowered by means of the screw K orits equivalent until the rails E are in line with those L on the follower G, aiid the jack J is run onto the rails L, so as to stand under the head A of the press,said jack being cut or hollowed out, as at M, for receiving the screw H. rlhe jack is now put in operation, and when its followers or pistons N reach the head A, so as to take upon itself the strain (if any) that was on the old press, then the screw H is detached "from the follower or cross-head G, which may be done by simply drawing a pin, and the jack continues to :run down the follower G until there is sufficient pressure upon the tobacco, and then the screw H is run down and fastened to the follower G, and takes and holds the pressure against it. rlhe jack is now let down, run back onto its truck, and moved to the next press ofthe tier, where a similar operation is gone through with, each press in turn retaining the greater pressure put upon the tobacco by the jack or other more powerful press than itself. \Ve thus convert what was hitherto presses into retainers of the power of heavier presses, and thus make them available and useful without throwing them away, and they perform a valuable service as such retainers, inasmuch as tobacco must remain under the press for a considerable period, which is not the case with hay, cotton, or other matter generally baled in presses.

The ways or rails L L are rounded out or sunken at their extremities a c, so that when the `jack is run onto them its cylinder or chamber() rests upon said rails instead oi' the Wheels upon which it is usually moved. The use ofthe two pistons N also equalizes the pressure on the follower G by applying it at each side of :instead of at the center, as the screw applies it. The only additions that need be made to the old-style press to make it available in connection with the jack are the rails L.

In the patent of Villiain Cameron of the 9th of November, 1858, is represented a stationary hydraulic press in connection' with portable stands. This in new establishments not provided with presses is perfect; but to utilize the old presses already provided the present invention is made and isliighly valnable.

Havingthus fully described the nature and object of our invention, We would state that we do not claim a truck or car for moving articles to be pressed on an adjustable railway to and from a press, nor do we claim screwprcsses or portable presses7 broadly; but

l That we do claim is-- I A portable hydraulic jack or other powerful press so constructed as to be readily applied to an ordinary or to aseries of ordinary screw-presses for the purpose described, and adjustable as to height on the truck on which it rests, in combination with the railway-track E, at right anglesl with the track B, vwhen said press is used for increasing the pressure of the screw-press, and converting it into a retaining-press7 substantially as and for the purpose described.

GEORGE LINDSAY. VILLIAM CAMERON. 

